Bible verse

Ecclesiastes 5:16

This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?

Ecclesiastes 5:16 · BSB

Ecclesiastes 5:16 in context

The verses around it, from Ecclesiastes 5.

12 The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.

13 There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,

14 or wealth lost in a failed venture, so when that man has a son there is nothing to pass on.

15 As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands.

16 This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?

17 Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.

18 Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.

19 Furthermore, God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has enabled him to enjoy them, to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor. This is a gift from God.

20 For a man seldom considers the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 5

Ecclesiastes 5:16 in other translations

KJV

And this also [is] a sore evil, [that] in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?

ASV

And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that he laboreth for the wind?

ERV

And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that he laboureth for the wind?

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Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible, which is free of copyright restrictions for use on websites. Read the full Bible on Great Faith.